News Round Up, Monday, July 8, 2013

This poem is a powerful pro-breastfeeding story. I don’t have children yet, but I hope to breastfeed. I believe that women should be able to choose what’s best for them and their baby, and (with the law on our side) we shouldn’t be shamed for feeding our children in public.

Rick Perry needs a hug. A hard, tight, suffocating hug. I wonder how frustrated he is by the huge line of women’s rights supporters currently lined up outside of the Capitol building in Austin? Thanks to a couple Facebook pages I’ve liked, I get regular updates on the goings-on of our fight.

I wish all hospitals were secular. This whole thing is bullshit, because hospitals are religious and won’t allow doctors admitting privileges due to their abortion procedures… but then those doctors can’t perform abortions because they lack admitting privileges. It’s a sneaky way to allow the religious right to control everyone’s decisions. And I love the way Scott Walker wussed out and sent a statement about the new law, rather than publicly signing it. Clearly, he’s trying to learn something from his peers’ mistakes recently.

I have to add, I’m sick of people claiming that abortion rights groups are in it for the money. Instead, let’s remember history. Women have always had ways to have abortions; Roe v Wade was a way to take them out of back alleys and secret meeting places, allowing for safe regulation and better practices. If you want to limit abortions, make them available freely along with family planning clinics and real sex education. When a woman has full access to family planning methods and knows how to use them, her pregnancies will be wanted rather than accidental.

Chile didn’t allow divorce until 2004. I highly doubt the plight of this little girl (11-year-old rape victim) will change their minds. I hope she either gets flown out of the country for an abortion or survives the birth along with her child. I’m tired of seeing girls and women die for the religiously conservative views of old men.

I’d be more surprised if I didn’t know that hospitals (non-prison ones) often treat pregnant women as brainless incubators. Too many nurses and doctors assume you don’t know what you want, so they give you pitocin or perform an episiotomy as they see fit. If unwanted procedures are happening on non-criminal women, what do we except to happen to those unfortunate enough to be pregnant in prison? Sometimes I think the women’s rights movement forgets there are areas beyond abortion and equal pay where we could use some help.

Allowing condoms is a smart (and compassionate) move. Inmates will continue to have sex, both willing and unwilling, whether the condoms are present or not. Adding condoms just allows for STD control. It’s hard to have sympathy for inmates, since we see them as criminals caught breaking the law, but it’s unfair to subject them to their high-risk environment without some measure of protection.

I’ve been shopping my way around the problem of canned foods for years now, as best I can. I hate that we line cans with crap. I’d rather we switched to glass jars of preserved food; I know I can find most sauces and “canned” fruits in jars now. And I go frozen when I can’t get fresh produce. But it’s still very, very frustrating. I mean, I didn’t know that canned foods had crap lining the can; you just don’t think about it! When we were poorer, we literally ate canned foods and Hamburger Helper all the time; it was the easiest way to avoid food waste, since canned foods don’t go bad for a long time. I’m grateful I make enough now to shop weekly and get fresh produce, and I’m still frustrated for those who can’t afford to do the same.

Random Related Story – not news

On the topic of toxic chemicals, I really don’t like artificial sweeteners. They scare me, for one, when you look at their chemical makeup and side effects. But on a more personal note, aspartame and I don’t get along. I’ve been careful to avoid all sugar substitutes, to include the more recent (and supposedly healthier) Stevia. However, I’m not always perfect in my avoidance.

Yesterday, I ordered a peach lemonade at my local café; it was delicious, and I didn’t think anything of it. Less than 15 minutes later, however, I realized that I should’ve asked about the peach syrup before ordering my drink. The raging headache I receive from aspartame (and others, like sucralose) is akin to a migraine. My measly Tylenol has no effect on it, and I can’t take other pain medications thanks to my chemical allergies. So, long story short, I really HATE the random chemicals we allow into our food system based on their “relative safety” as food additives.

I read this headline and already felt the university had made a bad decision. After reading the article, I still agree. I’m not offended by a cross worn by a Christian any more than you should be offended to see me wear my pentacle. As long as neither of us is preaching at each other, it shouldn’t matter what is worn as a symbol of faith.

Seems fair. I mean, whoever has custody of the children should receive the welfare money sent specifically for their care. This is a smart step toward empowering women in bad situations to find something better.

Random update: I’ve caught up on Merlin and Doctor Who (both BBC shows), and I have a love/hate relationship with shows that make me feel so… MUCH. I yelled at the screen when Merlin made the worst decision I could imagine, and I cried when the Doctor said goodbye to River for the last time. Why do the good shows have to be so utterly heartbreaking? As tribute to what appears to be the approaching end of the Doctor Who series (sorry, no spoilers here) I’ve started crafting a TARDIS cosplay for Ikkicon in December. I might write a separate blog about that later this month.